Haven’t heard this one in years. Came on the radio at the gym the other night. Great song to workout to. Had forgotten that our friend ila makes an appearance in the video. Look for him riding the bus…

Miss the era from approximately the mid 80's through the first decade of the 2000's. God I must be getting old.

“Misery Business” is by far my favorite Paramore song. One, because I was 10 years younger when I first heard it. Two, because Hayley’s awesome. God, her voice. Those eyes… Three, it’s even better if you’re a guy and had a crush on Hayley—of course she’s singing about you! “I got him where I want him now…”

Hayley has recently said she wouldn’t have written these lyrics today as a 28 year old. But it still is and will always be a great song!

Never thought the video fit the song. Loved them playing. Years later it's fun to see the original lineup. But the girl in the video is totally evil. Like a real psychopath. I especially hate the part where she shoves the poor little guy with the broken arm. One of the comments on YouTube is “Why the fuck is there a 40 year old walking around a high school bullying people?” How many times did she repeat 6th grade? Did one of the teachers freak out?

So What? is a song written by the British punk band the Anti-Nowhere League. The song first appeared as the B-side of the band's debut 7 single Streets of London, in 1981.

The obscene lyrical content of the song caused the British police to seize all copies of the single from the band's distributors under the Obscene Publications Act and remove all copies from sale. The word "fuck" appeared in the first line of the song. The song has subsequently been appended to various CD reissues of the We Are... The League album and has become somewhat of an anthem for the band.

The song was covered by Metallica and released as a B-side to the Sad But True single. So What? has become an in-concert standard for the band. Unfortunately, James Hetfield, lead singer of Metallica, reportedly damaged his voice during recording of this song, around the time of the Black Album.

Nothing else to me in popular culture sums up the "Summer of 1999" and the end of the millennium as much as this song. Well maybe "The Matrix." I realize many people hate this group but I hope the talents of Wes Borland (Guitar) and John Otto (Drums) as well as DJ Lethal are not overlooked.

(I noticed the use of "pay phones" as the girls following Fred Durst contact each other. There were in fact cell phones then and everyone I knew had one. Maybe this was just used for effect? )

And interestingly the only one of my "favorites" that my wife really likes as well. We had talked about going on the Parahoy cruise to the Bahamas this year. Wonder why she bought that "adult" harness and leash for me for Christmas...

(In the first picture, from 2007, Hayley and I are the same age... "19" )

Found this while looking for something else entirely. How well do you know these songs from the 70's? No matter what era you are from I'm sure you've heard them all. I scored 100%. I expected to do well because music is one of my great interests even though I was born in the 80's. Also I just got done doing research on the 70's for one of my stories set in 1978.

"Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" is the seventh track on “Joe's Garage,” Frank Zappa's triple concept album set in an America where music has been made totally illegal. It was typical of both Zappa's twisted sense of humor and his disdain for musical or any convention that he would give a song with this sort of toilet humor title and subject matter the grandiose treatment.

Released in 1979, generations of teenagers and college students would offend their parents, teachers, and others in authority with this album. Many of the other tracks feature explicit “sex related” or “anti-authority” themes. My first time hearing it was as a freshman in college, over 20 years later. It was blasting from a friend’s dorm room down the hall. The song made a reference to “she was sucking cock” and of course I went to investigate...

Many of you know I now teach at a university among other things. Last week I was walking across campus and heard “Joe’s Garage” coming from one of our dorms. It lives on!

Starz was a late 70’s hard rock band with an interesting history. I discovered them maybe 10 or 12 years later through an older friend with an extensive music collection. Their sound was way ahead of its time and “Violation” is one of my favorite albums. I “re-discovered” them while doing research for my story that was set in 1978. Truly I am surprised they were not more popular. The late 70’s and early 80’s ushered in the Disco and “New Wave” eras so maybe they just got lost in the mix. That’s too bad.

The song “Cherry Baby” was arguably their biggest hit and the song that most people recognize. My first girlfriend Stephanie loved the song and we used to play it in the car when we were dating (over 20 years after it was released). Hearing it again brings back some good memories.

“Subway Terror” is of course my favorite song from the album and has surprisingly violent lyrics especially considering the band’s origins. Remember this was back in 1977. Unlike most of the stuff I grew up with in the 90’s and 2000’s, there is no profanity or use of the “F” word. Yet “Subway Terror” hits very hard and describes a scenario as brutal as anything I’ve heard. They also make reference to “ludes.” At the time I didn’t know what those were. Of course I was always careful not to play it when my parents were around…

The members of Starz are all extremely talented musicians but after listening to the album recently their Bass player Peter Sweval (1948-1990) clearly stands out from the others and his playing drives the songs. I’m sure many of the bands I listened to years later were heavily influenced by these guys.

So where did they come from? If you don’t know already you will never believe it. Most of them were members of “Looking Glass” who are best known for “Brandy, You’re a Fine Girl” which was a #1 hit in 1972. Somewhere along the way they added a new singer, drummer and I believe guitar player. As far as I know Pete was one of the original members and played on “Brandy.” Pretty awesome.